Gardens
Enjoying natural highs at Wemyss Castle
When Charlotte Wemyss arrived at her husband Michael’s family home in Fife, its six-acre walled garden overlooking the Forth contained a few redcurrant bushes, five ancient apple trees and three geese. Twenty years on, and the gently sloping south-facing site at Wemyss Castle has been transformed into a striking garden, a skilful combination of traditional…
Read MoreLearn traditional skills of gardening in Scotland
Those interested in creating and maintaining a Scottish garden will be interested in a course taking place late next month. Gardening in Scotland: Principles and Practice of Establishment & Maintenance is being held at the National Trust for Scotland’s magnificent Pitmedden Garden, in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. The hands-on course is being run by The Scottish Traditional…
Read More10 Scots who were welcomed to the jungle
Scots get all over the world in the name of science. These heroic explorers risked life and limb to travel around the globe and discover the species of fl ora that make our gardens the beautiful places that they are today 1. Thomas Thomson (1817-1878) When he was only seventeen, Thomson discovered fossil mollusca on…
Read MoreBring spring into your home with houseplants
Now that spring is on its way, we’ll be starting to think of plants in our homes and gardens. It won’t be long before the grass is needing its first cut of the year, and we’ll be thinking of what our borders, flowerbeds and hanging baskets will need in 2019. But it’s just as important…
Read MorePut a spring in your step with expert essential tips
Spring officially started this week, and the UK’s leading garden centre, Dobbies is helping remind us of the reasons why springtime officially makes us happier. Celebrating the arrival of spring with the Spring Equinox, Dobbies is inviting us to plug back into nature and enjoy all the benefits the season of colour can bring. The…
Read MoreGarden tourism will be blooming lovely this year
Scotland’s garden tourism industry is set to bloom this summer. A further as £37,000 funding has been awarded to national garden tourism group, Discover Scottish Gardens, to build on its success. The group, which was launched in 2015 with Growth funding from VisitScotland, has been awarded the grant to help boost its member network of…
Read MoreThis walled garden is an all-year-round haven
Margaret and Iain Gimlet ’s garden lies in the Strathtay valley opposite Farragon Hill in Perthshire. Windswept and quite high it is not an easy garden and in 2014 it won a Sky television award for the best of three gardens in Scotland, all located on difficult sites. Margaret and Iain happily admit that the…
Read MoreScottish Snowdrop Festival blossoms for 2019
Their arrival usually heralds the end of winter and the promise of spring, and the return of one of Scotland’s most popular outdoor festivals to gardens and estates across the country. Showcasing a range of beautiful snowdrop collections, the Scottish Snowdrop Festival will be blossoming at venues from tomorrow, 25 January, to 11 March. Organised…
Read MoreWe’ll be back in our gardens before we know it
The promise of lighter, longer days is on the horizon – and that means our gardens will come back to life. As we welcome the new year and look forward to the blossoming season ahead, head of garden at Dobbies, Louise Golden, shares her expert trend insights and planting advice for 2019. After months of…
Read MoreMarking the Bard’s birthday at Scots garden centre
A garden centre is celebrating Burns Night with a day-long celebration of Scotland’s National Bard. And they’ve even tried their hand at writing a verse of poetry Rabbie Burns style! Staff at Cardwell Garden Centre, near Gourock are going all out to mark the birth of Robert Burns with a festival of all things Scottish…
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